TY  - RPRT
        AU  - Boca, Daniela Del
AU  - Favero, Luca
AU  - Pronzato, Chiara D.
        TI  - Supporting Mothers Back to Work: Experimental Evidence on Employment, Fertility, and Child Outcomes
        PY  - 2026/May/
        PB  - Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
        CY  - Bonn
        T2  - IZA Discussion Paper
        IS  - 18630
        UR  - https://www.iza.org/publications/dp18630
        AB  - Many advanced economies face persistently low fertility alongside rapid population ageing, raising concerns about economic sustainability and demographic balance. Addressing these challenges requires both sustained labor market participation among the working-age population and conditions that support childbearing. These objectives place women, and particularly mothers, at the center of the demographic debate, as motherhood remains a key turning point in employment trajectories and family formation. Using experimental evidence from an intervention targeting mothers who curtailed employment due to childcare responsibilities, the paper finds that improving work–family reconciliation can support mothers’ labor market reintegration, promote investments in existing children, and, under conditions of greater stability, strengthen fertility desires.
        KW  - work
KW  - motherhood
KW  - family friendly policies
KW  - fertility desire
        ER  -